Kamal Theatre backstage: outdoor laboratory, rehearsal rooms and children's play area
In February, regular tours are beginning in the new Kamal Theatre building in Kazan. The creation by Kengo Kuma and other architects has already been shown to the guests of BRICS Summit, the final boards of the ministry of construction and the ministry of culture of the republic have been held there, participants of various projects have been invited there. But what is hidden behind the scenes of Kamal Theatre's new scene? Realnoe Vremya journalists had a chance to visit this space, thanks to which the possibilities of the academic theatre will become even wider: all preparatory processes can be carried out simultaneously and by their own forces.
Rehearsals are like in the Main Hall
The new Kamal Theatre is being shown as part of the City Moderators project — tours are guided by Zukhra Vildanova, the leading manager of the theatre, and Ilshat Latypov, the deputy director of marketing and PR, with the help of student interns. The theatre is expanding its staff, though the demand is not for actors — auditions were held last year, with more to come, and some could be seen in the large-scale production Alfiya. The Path To Eternity. The focus is on hiring technical personnel.
Theatre guides show the Chamber, Universal Halls, the Large, arched vaults of which are an allusion to the architecture of mosques (judge by from the photo what the viewer will see from the last row of the balcony), as well as the Oriental Hall with 1,256 plaster coins resembling chain mail and izyu breastplates. Interestingly, in the original concept, the hall was decorated with towels.
On this level, behind the large hall, there is a rehearsal area the size of a stage. Previously, Kamal's performances were rehearsed in room 301 (which was given over by the theatre's chief director Marsel Salimzhanov), or right on the set during the daytime. Now, they say in the theatre, they can do it “around the clock.”
Carpentry and prop workshops are also located there. The props in the old building were on the sixth floor (when you get there, you look at the big stage from above), this space is very cold in winter and very hot in summer. The new building offers a picturesque view of the Kaban River from the workshops. There are large warehouses for decorations nearby (now the theatre has a warehouse in the area of Tukaya Street).
In the Universal Black Hall, part of the floor goes down. By opening the trap room, a part of the audience seats can be placed in the created space, turning the hall into a semblance of a classic one. There is a cloakroom, bathrooms and a gift shop in this part of the building. After entering, people with disabilities can take an elevator down here, and then get into the hall through other elevators.
On the second floor there is a sound department, a stage effects and video projections department.
Universe of the third level
The most interesting and open space for the audience is the third floor. There is an art and craft workshop here, where master classes will be held.
One of the large spaces available to the public is an open theatre laboratory, which may slightly solve the scarcity issue of potential repertoire.
If you go further, you can find a small “universe” for actors and other theatre workers. There are rehearsal halls of various sizes, administration, a canteen, and costumes are stored here. The press centre is located in the same part.
The dressing rooms are more spacious than the previous ones, while they are designed for two or three people (there were four people in the old building). This is also understandable — who is interested in sitting alone in the dressing room, which is designed, in general, for a little preparation for the performance.
One of the features of the third floor is a children's play area. In the old building, the actors' children, when they had no one to leave at home with, sat in the aisle next to chess and a TV broadcast. They can also play here without distracting their parents.
On the fourth floor, there is a sewing workshop and a vocal and dance class. The orchestra's rehearsal room is located here. By the way, thanks to the efforts of musical director Daniyar Sokolov, it was possible to put the musical archive of the theatre in order — perhaps, the theatre program will be opened with the musical performance Bashmagym/Shoes by Tazi Gizzat.
The Sayyar restaurant will appear on the fourth floor, and its pages already exist on social networks. In the lobby, you can see the interiors of the Kosh cafe. It will be possible to get into it from morning to evening. To the rest of the territory, explains deputy director Ilfir Yakupov, with tickets for a performance or an excursion.
Latypov explains that there are technical rooms on the fifth floor.
Japanese minimalism and Tatar ornaments
Vildanova notes that the design of the building combines Japanese minimalism (they say that slightly steep stairs are a feature of Kengo Kuma) and Tatar ornamentalism, in particular, the petal walls are made on the basis of traditional women's jewelry, reinterpreted by artist Nailya Kumysnikova.
Little things are being completed before our eyes — for example, some elements of the ornament are being re-fixed, the backlight is being checked. There's a lot of work going on on the big stage (since dozens of visitors have already seen it, it's probably not a secret).
The theatre is currently being prepared for the Kazanysh Forum, which is held from February 6 to 8. On the ground floor, to the right of the stage, plaques with the names of its organisers were added to the doors of some offices. In fact, these are the dressing rooms of older actors and folk artists. They won't need to take the elevator to get to the main stage. By the way, the architects of Wowhaus bureau, as well as representative of the Japanese Kengo Kuma & Associates bureau Justin Chu, will give a tour of the building at the forum.
